Jaune Arc, Watcher of the Abyss
by Rum Aficionado
Summary: Alright, so the title speaks for itself, it's Jaune if he were an Abyss Watcher, but wait, he's not actually edgy, just bound by his duty to kill the abyss. As for how well I got the lore for the Abyss Watchers right, I know a bit about the Abyss Watchers, but not enough to be like Papa Vaati, so take this with a grain of salt. Anyway, that's it, read it, or don't, I don't care.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, what's up guys, it's the one and only Syndrome here, and today, I'm bringing in something a little different to the table today. You see, lately, I've been having to fight an addiction, and that addiction happens to be related to Dark Souls and seeing how quickly I can beat the game, trying different builds etc. And honestly, it's been interfering with the time I use to write, but as I've been on my Dark Souls kick, I've also been slowing down when it comes to writing, so I think it's high time I do something a little different, and in comes Jaune Arc, Watcher of the Abyss. This is my take on what would happen if Jaune was an Abyss Watcher, or rather,** _ **The**_ **Abyss Watcher since it's said that the Abyss Watchers combined their souls when they linked the fire, sacrificing their individuality, thus Jaune was born through the linking of the fire, well, that's what I'm rolling with anyway. If you're not big on the Souls scene, well I recommend you sit down and play some, DS3 is a good one to start on if you actually have things to do, but if you want a** _ **real**_ **challenge, then play the first one and work your way up, but I'm rambling. So, to those souls fans among my small audience, this one's for you. Hope you enjoy. Be sure to play the Abyss Watchers ost while you read this, it makes it a little better. Or play "I had a name" by Alex Roe. I own neither RWBY nor Dark Souls, if I did, then they'd both be garbage. Nor do I own Alex Roe's music, I just admire it from a distance.**

* * *

When people hear of Farron's Undead Legion, you would usually think of the Abyss Watchers, the heads of the Undead Legion, but what most people don't know is that even though there are multiple heads, there is a shared consciousness, and with enough time, that shared consciousness turned out to be me. Forgive me for not introducing myself, I am the Master of the Wolf's blood, if I had a name before that, then I must have forgotten. I remember when the thought of not knowing who I was gave me conniptions, but no longer does it do such a thing.

Right now, I'm currently sitting in the middle of a room in the Farron Keep, a room which is covered in both blood and bodies, the bodies of my fellow Abyss Watchers, resting, nay, waiting for my next challenger. You see, we Abyss Watchers have a duty, to hold back the Abyss so other people may live, and the Abyss is a very dangerous thing. Now that may sound heroic, but the reality behind that is that I've had to remain vigilant, wait for the Abyss to show itself and once it shows itself, I destroy it. I've had to destroy the Abyss and whatever it infected, and the Abyss had infected full kingdoms. But as Abyss Watchers, we've also had to expose ourselves to the Abyss, and thus, over a stroke of bad luck, us Watchers of the Abyss have been infected by the Abyss, tainted by its darkness. But I have a duty to uphold, we all do, so we continue to fight the Abyss, we continue to fight one another in order to destroy the Abyss.

As for myself, I am also tainted by the Abyss, but I am the Master of the Wolf's blood, I don't have the right to lie down and die, nor do I have the right let the Abyss taint me entirely, so instead, I stand ever so vigilant, and whenever one of my brothers stand and are tainted, I... I strike them down, but we are a collected consciousness, so every time I destroy one of my brothers, I destroy a part of myself, but these are just the sacrifices that I, no, we must make, as Abyss Watchers.

As I sit in the middle of the room resting, I hear one of the bells begin to toll, ah, so one of my brothers have risen, I do hope that they are not so tainted that they are mad, I am still a little winded after all of that. As I look across the room, I see one of my brothers begin to stand, with his weapons in hand and what's this? His eyes, burning brightly with a shade of red, ah, I see, so he is tainted by the Abyss. I push myself off of the ground and ready my weapons, my greatsword as well as my crooked dagger, and perform proper etiquette, legion etiquette, if my brother in arms is to be slain, then I shall kill him so his honor remains intact.

I see the tainted undead respond with the same gesture, but once he drops the gesture, he rushes towards me, I can sense his intent, he wishes to kill me, not surprising in the least. As he gets into range, he lashes out his greatsword and opens up with a heavy overhead swing, and in return, I lean out of the way of the attack and send a slash to the tainted undead's chest with my dagger. I feel the dagger connect to his chest, good, with that I have first blood.

But it would not do for him to just keel over from just one wound, for he is an Abyss Watcher. He tanks through the hit and rolls past me, trying to evade punishment for opening up too early, are we? I spin around quickly, and as I spin I lash out my greatsword, hoping to land a strike. I feel my blade lightly pierce through flesh, hmm, it seems this could be much easier than expected.

I jump back, trying to make a bit of a gap between us. I find myself staring down my fellow abyss watcher, he has a fairly noticeable wound on his chest, so that's where I hit him. I see him drop into a far more defensive stance, very well, if you want to me to attack you, then I shall, for it is my duty. I crouch low to the ground, the tip of my blade touching the cold stone floor. I push my feet off of the ground and send myself towards my enemy, dragging my sword along the floor, leaving a trail of sparks.

As I get close, I slash towards my enemy's leg, trying to keep them immobile. My enemy suddenly dodges to the right and my sword grazes his leg, damn, so close. I see my enemy's blade heading towards me, so I attempt to roll out of the way, but mid-roll, I feel it strike my outer thigh. I grit my in pain, now is not the time to feel pain, now is the time to end this, but I must do so quickly.

Tanking through the strike, I send a downward slash toward my enemy, to which he intercepts it with his blade, so I bring up my dagger and strike him across the chest. He staggers backward in pain, an opportunity! I send a second downward slash towards him once more, but he blocks with his sword once more, but he is now on one knee. I strike him with my crooked dagger once more and he drops his sword, it's over now.

He stumbles back up to his feet, and I strike him once more, across the chest with my dagger, he tanks it but is now barely standing, worry not comrade, you will no longer need to suffer. I grab a hold of his shoulder with my dagger still in hand and drive my greatsword through his chest, and suddenly, the room is silent. He now leans against my sword, so I lean in close and say, "Arise soon if you would, comrade, for it is our duty." And pull out my greatsword, and with that, his undead corpse falls to the ground. Now the blood of my comrade stains my steel, and sadly, this is not the first time I have done it, nor will it be the last.

I let out a sigh and go to take a seat, only to hear another set of footsteps echo throughout the empty room, yet the bells have not tolled, this can't be another Abyss Watcher, no, this is someone else entirely. I quickly turn around and find myself staring at a man(?) in an Elite knight's armor, wielding a straight sword along with a shield, hmm, they must hail from Astora if they wear armor like that. But just as get ready to raise my weapons once more, I see that the knight has a companion, an executioner in full black metallic armor and he carries a halberd, and the only skin I see on him is through the holes of his helmet, only big enough to see through.

Hmm, they may pose a threat, but even so, I must remain vigilant, so I will let them decide how they wish to engage me, that might even buy me some time until one of my comrades may rise from their grave. I see the knight place their hand on the hilt of their blade but does not go to draw it. Instead, they simply take a few steps away from the door and towards me. I narrow my eyes, this has to be some sort of trick, no one would simply approach an Abyss Watcher and not mean to cause harm to me.

For a moment, the room remains as silent as it was before, not a sound to be heard, but it doesn't stay that way for very long, "Oh hello, how do you do? I am Anri of Astora, this is my companion, Horace, a friend of mine." The knight, now confirmed to be a woman, says, she seems far too friendly for the kind of world we live in.

I let my weapons hang by my sides, but I am not at ease, just simply trying to appear relaxed. I nod, "You are... different from the undead I usually deal with, tell me, are you hunting the Lords of Cinder?" I ask, I know they are because there is no doubt in my mind, that these two are those of ash, those who seeketh embers.

I see the knight nod solemnly, "Yes, we are, and unfortunately, you are one of those lords. It's a shame really, you seem like such a nice man. Listen, I know we must do battle, as it is my duty, but before we begin, could you tell us your name? We know that you are an Abyss Watcher, but who are you really?" She asks, that is an excellent question, but one I could never really answer.

For some odd reason, the ground seems to have captured my attention more than the knight and her silent companion, "Ah, but that is a question to which I know not the answer. For years I have thought to myself that same question, and it has thrown my mind into a ceaseless struggle, one that was all for naught. I had a name, one that I could never remember, I had a family, they had faces that I can no longer see in my mind, I had friends, people who I no longer can meet with. I had a name, one that can never be remembered, and now, I am caught in a prison of which I can't escape, one to which that I am not bound by chains, but by duty. So please, if you would, release me from my chains, but know that I will not let you got without a struggle, for I can not sully the name of which I can't remember nor my title as a Lord of Cinder." I say calmly.

These are all things that I've come to terms with, these are all things that I know I will never be able to get back, so I dedicate myself to my duties. I hear the knight chuckle as she draws her blade from her sheath, "Well, that was to be expected of you, Lord of Cinder. After all, no one expects the Lords of Cinder to die without a weapon in hand. But riddle me this, if you could choose a name, what would it be?" She asks, now that is an interesting question, one that I had not been expecting to answer.

I feel a faint hammering feeling in the back of my head, I hear someone screaming although there is no one here other than myself and the undead, I hear a woman screaming a name, " _Jaune!"_. What a peculiar name, never before have I heard that name, nor have I met anyone who had such a name. I doubt it could have been mine, or it could it have? Well, Knight Anri asked me a question, I suppose this name is a good enough answer, "I suppose Jaune would be it. It's simple, yet it draws attention at the same time. Yes, it would do." I say.

I hear Anri hum to themselves, "An odd name, but a name none the less, and now you have a name to call yourself if you win our battle. Consider it a final act of kindness from us if we fall today, although I doubt we will die today. For Horace and I also have a duty, to defeat Aldrich the Devourer." She says, it seems as though she is out for revenge, not looking to accomplish their duty.

I hum to myself in thought, I suppose she did give me a name, well, I suppose I will have to give them something in return, "Well, I thank you for the name that you have given me, but that does not mean that I will keel over and let you kill me. But there is something I can give you, if you defeat me, you may take my sword, you may take my shame, but please, remember my name." I say, quoting a swordswoman of old.

I raise my blade and as a part of proper legion etiquette, I give her an Abyss Watcher's salute. She responds by drawing her blade, and her companion rushes ahead and stands by her side, "Very well, as a Knight of Astora, I shall give you my word to remember such a name, Jaune." She said, I chuckle inwardly, that is the first time someone has called me that, and even if she means to kill me, it still feels strangely good.

And with that said, I crouch low, the tip of my blade barely touching the ground, my eyes narrowed. I new opponents raise their shields, use your shields, but they shall not save you. I dash forward, my blade scraping against the ground as I move forth, and as I get into range, I swing my and it meets their shields. And for the first time in a very long time, I smile, this is sure to be a fine battle!

Who would have thought that this is how I would have died, the only thing keeping me standing is my sword that is stabbed into the ground, I refuse to die on the floor, that would sully my name, even if no one knows it. I cough repeatedly, and out comes blood, I was right, it was a fine battle, worthy of an Abyss Watchers' death. I see the Astoran sheath her blade and walk towards me.

As she gets close to me, she places her armored hand onto my shoulder, "I know this may come off as rude, but taking your death lying down isn't the worst way to go about it." I hear her say calmly, my legs struggle to keep me up, no, I must stand, any other way wouldn't do. I grit my teeth in pain, I can feel my legs screaming curses at me as I make them go through torture.

Instead of giving her an answer, I collapse, not purposely mind you, but because my legs could no longer support my body. I feel as though my lungs are on fire, it's gotten hard to breathe. I take a hold of my dagger that was at my waist and cut off the cloth that was once over my mouth.

It's gotten a little easier to breathe, but that won't change my fate in the slightest, my wounds are far too heavy for even a miracle to fix. I let out a hollow chuckle, "I thank you, Anri, Horace, thou hath given me freedom, I am now free from both the chains of life and duty." I say and let out a cough, spraying blood onto the floor.

Instead of responding to my comment, the Astoran Knight simply takes a seat next to me and places a hand on my back, "Just rest now Jaune, you've fought hard enough to earn your freedom." She says tenderly, she is far too empathetic for this world, although, I think she know's that.

I see the fellow named Horace crouch down next to me and reach into his pack and he pulls out a flask that seems to be made of glass, it's estus, known for its healing properties. He pushes it towards me, trying to have me drink it.

I shake my hand push the estus back towards him, "You are going to need it more than I, for I won't be needing it where I am going." I say, my eyelids begin to feel heavy and I see the world around me fade, no, I still have a question.

I hear him let out a breathy groan, the strong silent type with a heart of gold huh? I let out another chuckle, sounds about right. I feel my eyelids trying to force themselves shut, I must be quick, "Knight Anri, Horace, may I ask one final question?" I ask.

I see the Astoran Knight sitting next to me nod, "By all means Jaune, ask your question." She says kindly, these two are far too precious for this world.

I take off my helm and hand it to her, "Can I be your friend? I don't think I've ever had a friend before, considering that everyone who's ever walked into this room has tried to kill me." I say, I know that this question may have come as a surprise, but to die in a friends arms is something I've dreamt of.

I see Anri look over to Horace, waiting for his response, only for him to shrug indifferently. I shut my eyes waiting to hear a negative response, but instead, I hear the man in executioner armor take a seat to my left. I look over to the Astoran with wide eyes, and instead of saying anything, she simply drapes her left arm around my shoulder.

I feel a lone tear escape my eyes as I shut them, basking in the warmth of my new friends. I feel myself slowly fade from existence, but instead of feeling sorrow, I am glad, glad to have made new friends, even if they were the ones that killed me.

And with my final breath, I leave them with my final words, "Thank you, and don't you dare go hollow on me." I say, and with that, I fade away as the fire does.

* * *

Finally, for the first time in all of my years of fighting, I can now rest. It's funny really, after all that fighting, I never thought that someone would actually beat me. It's an odd feeling, but at least I don't have to worry about fighting anymore, at least not for right now.

As I drift through the empty void, I wonder to myself, what would have happened if I had agreed to sit on my throne, could I have stayed with Anri and Horace for a little while longer, could I have helped them on their quest to defeat Aldrich? These are simply questions that are going to plague my mind as I float through the dark abyss.

The Abyss, without the Abyss Watchers, who's going to stop the Abyss? The twin princes showed that they want nothing to do with the throne, and through that, have caused a civil war in Lothric. So, is The Abyss just going to run rampant with no one to keep it in check?

I let out a sigh, I suppose that's not really my problem anymore, but still, I can't help but feel a little worried about The Abyss, it's all I've ever known. I guess that was my way of helping people, fighting the Abyss so no one else had to.

The Abyss was such a hellish thing, tainting men and turning them into abominations of nature, and then after those men were tainted, we had to go and kill those abominations. It was hell.

As I drift through the void, I hear something off in the distance, the sounds of bells tolling. If the bells still toll, then I suppose my job has yet to be done, damn it all, and here I was hoping for some rest, who knows, maybe I can find some new people make friends with them.

Suddenly, my eyes flit open, and I find myself surrounded by an actual forest, I haven't seen one of these since, well, it's been a long time. Although, never have I seen trees with red leaves, not that it isn't beautiful, just odd is all.

I pick myself up off of the ground, my muscles ache as I stand, it's nothing I haven't dealt with before, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. After a bit of stretching, I begin to march, if the bells tolled and they brought me to this place, then there must be signs of the Abyss nearby. Either that or the Abyss has already passed and I have to clean up the mess.

So after marching a short distance, I hear a few bushes around me begin to rustle, either the wildlife is trying to say hello, or the very thing I am hunting has come to me. I draw both my blade and my dagger, waiting for my prey to pounce.

I hear a low growl emanate from the bushes around me, there's more than just one? That will be fine, I've dealt with worse. I drop into a defensive stance, my greatsword leaning against my shoulder and my dagger outstretched.

I see bushes around me rustle once more, and jumps a creature that resembles a wolf, yet it stands on its hind legs. It is covered in black fur, but the one thing that is throwing me off is its red eyes, and the only thing that I know that is painted black when tainted with glowing red eyes are the abominations of the Abyss.

I let out a sigh, it seems my work is never done. Well, no time to worry about that now. I shake my thoughts and focus on my prey, it seems to have very sharp claws for a wolf, how peculiar. I hear this tainted creature let out a howl, and with the howl, emerge more of its kin.

My eyes harden and grip tightens on my weapons, I look around me and all I see are these abominations, there has to be at least thirty or so, had I known there were so many I would've struck first. I take a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Okay, I'm calm, now the only thing that stands in my way are these abominations, so they shall be punished for getting in the way of my freedom. I stretch out my blade and place my dagger over my outstretched arm, performing Legion Etiquette.

In response to my salute, I see one of the wolf-like abominations that stands taller than the rest step forward, it has more armor on its face and body, is it their leader? It stares at me for a moment, before beginning to pace back and forward, never taking its eyes off of me.

I let my blade rest on my shoulder as we begin to circle on another, is this a duel between myself and an abomination? I had not thought that a creature of the Abyss had honor, how strange. Then again, there are a lot of strange things in Lothric, so I can't say that this is the strangest thing I've seen.

After circling one another for what feels like the third time, the beast growls under its breathe, so it's not very patient, that can work to my advantage.

It pounces towards me, its claws stretched out, ready tear me apart, it seems awfully confident. As its claws come close to hitting their mark, I lash out my dagger and strike at its arm, severing it. I thought it would have been a lot more difficult to kill it, I suppose not.

I see the wolf-like crash behind me and clutch at a stump where its arm use to be. I stalk towards my prey, and I think I even see signs of fear in its red eyes. I chuckle as I creep forward, "To think that I was cautious of you, you're nothing to fear in my eyes." I say, it probably doesn't understand me anyway.

But in a last-ditch effort, it howls in pain, and its pack howl in response. So much for being honorable, I quickly make a 180 and drop into a defensive position, and let out a snarl, and here I was thinking that somehow these abominations learned honor, how disappointing.

Four of the abominations rush me at once, each one of them leaping towards me. I narrow my eyes and swing my greatsword, cleaving all four of the abominations in one swing, so they aren't too strong, that's good I suppose.

I let a feral grin come across my face, if I can cleave through the rest of them as easily as I did here, then this should be quick. I dash towards the rest of the pack, my greatsword leaning against my shoulder. Once I get close to the front line that they had set up, I drop to my knees and slide, and as I slide, I strike my dagger into the ground and begin to spin.

As I spin, I stretch out my blade, piercing the flesh of multiple of the wolf-like creature, but instead of stopping with one spin, I pull my dagger out of the ground and place it into a closer spot to myself, repeating the previous attack. As I begin to slow down, I use my remaining momentum to fling myself into the air and perform a downward strike into another abomination.

I look around at the carnage that I caused, there are detached limbs covered in black fur everywhere, there are few abominations left and they seem to be fairly weakened, out of what was a pack of thirty, there now remains only six, including their leader. I let out a low growl and around my sword, sparks little embers begin to rise off of it, and slowly, my blade becomes engulfed in flames. Instead of a challenge, these creatures have been nothing but a nuisance, I shall end this quickly.

I crouch low and dash towards the remaining wolf-like creatures, and with one slash, I cleave two of them in half. But I over-extend and one of the abominations rushes towards me and sends a strike across my chest, that was foolish of me, to charge ahead without a plan.

With the intent to finish me, the wolf-like creature tries to stab at me whilst I lay on the ground. As the claw descends towards me, I roll out of the way and find myself behind the abomination. I shove my sword into its back and it begins to dissipate, since when did the abominations of the Abyss have the ability to dissipate?

I shake my head, now is not the time to be questioning these things. I look over to the last of the Wolf-like creatures, which consists of what used to be their pack leader, and two of its followers. The two followers step in front of their pack leader, well, I can admire their loyalty, but they will die like dogs all the same.

I begin to creep forward, and as I creep forward, I hear the sound of bells tolling nearby, I suppose my duty has no end, even death can't free me from my bonds. But that just means that I will have to eradicate the entirety of the Abyss if I want to gain my freedom, quite the heavy price to pay if you ask me.

As I creep closer to the remaining wolf-like creatures, I see an arrow whizz through the air and strike one of the abominations in the abdomen, causing it to whine and dissipate. I jump in surprise and get into a defensive stance, my eyes flickered from side to side, where is the archer?

I see two more arrows fly through the air and strike the last of the abominations, whoever this marksman is, they're clearly skilled. Why do I always have to deal with one situation after the next? With the abominations dead, I let my weapons hang by my sides, trying to seem calm.

After a short minute, I hear the sound of bushes rustling once more. I look towards the sound and find myself staring at the mysterious marksman. They wear a green cloak with the hood pulled over his head, along with brown pants and boots, a quiver on their back and a shortsword strapped to their hip.

As they step out of the foliage, they give me a wave, "Hello there! Fancy meeting someone in this neck of the woods. Oh, wait, where're my manners? I'm Robyn, a pleasure to meet you." I hear a rather friendly voice say. He seems nice, I suppose.

I nod in response, "I'm Jaune, the pleasure is all mine. I thank you for helping me finish off the last of those abominations." I say, I didn't need his help, but it did make my life easier, so I believe a thank you is in order.

I see a smile come across his face as he pulls down his hood and it becomes easier to see what they actually look like. They have brown hair along with blue eyes and a welcoming smile. "It was no problem, us forest dwellers have to stick together. But what d'ya mean by abominations? Sure their monsters, but abominations is pushing it." I hear, Robyn was it, say. But, they're the Abyss creatures, are they not?

I simply shrug my shoulders, "Those are simply my views of these creatures, their all abominations of nature. Also, do you happen to know where we are? I am foreign to these lands and I got a little lost." I say, that's not entirely untrue, I am not sure as to where I am and I have a feeling that if I told him how I got here, well, things wouldn't turn out well.

I see Robyn quirk a brow, "You mean to tell me that you don't know where we are? Hell, you must live farther out in the boonies than I do, and I live smack dab in the center of the boonies." He said incredulously, what are boonies?

I suppose I should just agree with that statement, "I'm afraid that I don't know where we are, I've just been wandering recently, trying to see if I could find other people." I say, again, not entirely untrue, but I'm not exactly looking for people per se.

I see him tilt his head slightly and scratch the side if his head, "Huh, well what do you know, there are people who can survive out deep wilds. Right, well, we are currently standing in the middle of the Crimson Forest, and I know, it's not the most original name. Just on the outskirts of the forest is a little town that I live in, I can take you there if you like?" He says.

While meeting more people wouldn't be a bad thing, I also have to continue hunting these abominations. Unless… "Are there more people like you in this town, people who fight the abominations?" I ask, if there are more people like myself, then it would be best to combine our efforts.

I see him smirk proudly at the mentioning of more fighters, "Hell yeah there are more of us, there has to be a couple of fighters if we're gonna live on the frontier, although the Grimm have been getting bigger lately." I hear him say, what are Grimm? Are they other creatures that threaten these lands?

I tilt my head slightly in confusion, "What are Grimm, are they also an issue in these lands?" I ask.

I see a look of shock come across Robyn's face, "Y-you don't know what Grimm are? How could you not know what they are, they are single-handedly the most dangerous things in the world?!" He said, could you please calm down, there is no need to yell.

I see him close his eyes and take a deep breathe, "Sorry, it's just well, I thought everyone in the world knew what Grimm are, I guess some people are a little more isolated then I was. Those things you were fighting, those were Beowolfs, creatures of Grimm." He said, a fitting name for a wolf-like abomination, Beowolf.

I nod, I see, so these creatures of Grimm are what plague this land, not the Abyss. Yet, they seem so similar, is there a connection? "Those were the most dangerous things in the world? They were rather simple for me to kill." I say, if those are the most dangerous things in the world, then my victory is assured.

I see him shake his head, "Beowolfs aren't exactly the strongest Grimm, you've got the Ursai, which are giant bears, The Deathstalkers which are giant scorpions that can level a building, and then you've got Nevermore, they're basically giant birds that'll take your head off in a second. There are more, but those are just the main Grimm types." He said, he sounds as though he teaches this kind of thing regularly.

I glare at the ground, why must everything be so difficult? I let out a sigh, "Could you take me to this village, I think I need to rest, if only for a moment." I say, I shall only rest for a day, but after that, I must leave. I have beasts to hunt.

As the words escape my mouth, I hear him chuckle, I don't understand, why is he laughing? "Sure thing kid, follow me." He says as he begins to walk through the forest. Why did he call me a child? I am certainly older than a child.

As we walk through the forest, I can't help but become entranced by forest and all of the colors around me, never before have I seen so much color in one place, it's so beautiful now that I have a chance to properly look at it.

"Hey, try to keep up kid, I want to make it to the village before nightfall!" I hear Robyn say, and with that, I am broken out of my trance. With that, we continue to make our way through the forest.

* * *

After a short walk, we finally make our way to the edge of the forest. I feel a hand touch my shoulder, "Well, what are you waiting for kid? Let's get going." He says as he walks through the foliage.

I shake my head and follow suit. As I make my way out of the foliage, I feel the sun's rays blind me, so I raise my arm and cover my eyes. After getting accustomed to the lighting, I find myself standing on a hill, staring at a village with a wooden wall surrounding it. The houses inside the village seem to be made up mostly of wood.

But the village itself isn't what has my attention, but rather what surrounds it. The village itself is sitting near the edge of a cliff, and past that cliff is a large body of water, and ocean perhaps? I divert my attention back to the village and I notice a building sitting at the center of it, one that I am fairly familiar with, a bell tower.

It looks like a decent place to live. I hear Robyn take a deep breathe as we look at the village, "Ah, home sweet home." He says casually, I can't say that I would see myself living here, but that's because I have a duty to uphold. But if I didn't, then I would most likely stay here.

"It seems like a nice place, decent fortifications, a cliff to your backs, and a forest hiding you from the rest of the world, and the view is simply breathtaking," I say, I mean it, it is a beautiful place.

I hear Robyn chuckle lightheartedly, "Yup, but most importantly, the people are nice and friendly, and nice and friendly people keep the Grimm away." He says, how, it's not like they're attracted by negative emotions, that just doesn't seem possible.

"How so? I understand that people being kind is a good thing, but how would that keep the Grimm away?" I ask.

He looks at me with a quirked brow, "You don't know much about the Grimm do you?" I hear him ask. I shake my head, I'm afraid I don't, that's why I asked. I hear him sigh at my answer, "Come on, I'll explain while we walk to the inn." He said as he started walking down the hill, and I quickly follow behind him.

As we make our way to the gates, I hear a man from on top of the wall yell, "Who goes there?" They even have guards, for a village, it seems to be prospering.

I see Robyn smirk as he hears the guard, "You miss me chuckle-nuts?" He yelled back.

"Robyn, is that you? Where the hell have you been for the past few days? You know how Marian gets when you go missing for more than a day!" I hear the guards yell, um, who is this Marian that you speak of?

I hear Robyn mumble under his breath, "Aw hell, how deep in the shitter am I this time?" He mumbled, what is a shitter? So many questions, not enough answers. "Right, well do you mind letting us in? I've got a new-comer with me and he wants a tour of the town."

After a minute, the gate opens, the hinges on the gate give out a creak, they must be old, the hinges I mean. "Alright, but hurry up, you know we can't keep the gates open for too long." I hear the guard say, why can't you keep them open? I thought this village had been made up of warriors?

I hear Robyn sigh, "Come on kid, I'll take you to the inn and show you around town tomorrow because knowing my wife, I might get my ass kicked. Also, when we're in the town, you might want to put your weapons away, people usually don't like having weapons out in the open, it makes them anxious." I hear him say, why would that make people anxious? I shrug my shoulder and sheathe my greatsword on my back and place my dagger on my hip.

We walk through the gate and I am bombarded by a variety of smells and sounds, this is certainly new. As we walk through the town, I see things that I am most certainly not use to seeing, for example, I saw a man who had horns atop his head, I had thought he was a demon of some sort, only to have that be disproven after he had said hello. I honestly feel both foolish and curious, are there people with animalistic features in these lands?

And after following Robyn for a short while, we end up making our way to a two-story wooden building. I feel Robyn put an arm around my shoulder, "Well, come on kid, I've got someone I want you to meet." He said as he ushered me into the building.

As we walk through the building, I instantly notice that there are a lot of tables and chair, with the chairs currently sitting on top of the tables. But that's not the only thing I notice, I also notice that there is a very tall man currently standing behind a wooden counter and is cleaning an empty glass.

I hear the man behind the counter say, "Welcome to the Brown Bear inn, we're closed right now but-" But then he looks up as he speaks, "Holy hell, Robyn, where the hell have you been? Marian has been freaking at for the past few days." He says, again, who is this Marian character?

I hear Robyn chuckle as he walks towards the counter and pulls up a stool, but instead of following, I simply stand by the door, "So I've been told. But enough about that John, I've got someone for you to meet. Hey kid, no need to be shy, get over here." I hear Robyn say.

I let out a sigh as I walk towards the counter. I follow Robyn's example and pull up a stool. I see the man, now known as John, quirk a brow, "Don't tell me you had a bastard?" He says teasingly, I don't understand how he came to that conclusion.

"Who, me?" I hear Robyn ask as he points a finger at himself, they seem like rather good friends.

"Who else could I be talking to, your bastard?" John said, I don't know why, but I'm beginning to get slightly annoyed at the fact that I am being called a bastard.

"Excuse me, but I am nearly certain that Robyn is not my father," I say, and with that, John smirks.

I hear John chuckle from behind the counter, "So he does speak, and here I thought you were a mute kid. I'm John Little, and you?" He said as he outstretched his hand.

I grasp a hold his hand and give it a firm shake, "My name is Jaune, a pleasure to meet you Mister Little." I say as I look up at him, this man has to be at least 7 feet tall. "Although, I believe your name might be a bit of a stretch," I say, for a man whose surname is Little, he's quite tall.

I hear Robyn chuckle as he sits next to me, "Would you look at that, the boy's got a sense of humor. And here I thought you were always angsty." I hear Robyn say, I don't see why he would assume that. I'm not full of angst, just confusion as well as a bit of annoyance that I have to fight another threat, but not angst.

I simply shrug my shoulders, "Of course I have a sense of humor, but enough of that. I heard from Robyn that this was a place where I could rest." I say, I'm not tired in the sense that I'm sleepy, but more along the lines that I don't want to fight anything for at least a few hours.

I see John look to Robyn with an inquisitive look, "Where did you find this kid again?" He asked.

I Robyn shrug, "I found him in the forest, you should've seen him, took on a whole pack of Beowolfs by himself." Robyn said, I don't know if he's impressed by that or just wants to tell the tale.

I see John quirk his brow, "So you see this kid kill a bunch of Grimm in the forest and decide to bring him to my inn?" He asks, I would really appreciate it if you would please stop calling me a child.

I hear Robyn sigh, "Could you just let the kid stay in the inn for tonight, I'll even pay for his room, just give the boy a chance, I'm sure he'll surprise you." He says, he seems to have a lot of faith in me, but why? I don't think I've given him much reason to trust me so much.

I hear John sigh, mimicking Robyn almost perfectly, "Fine, I'll let the kid stay tonight. Jaune, when you wake up, you and I are going to have a chat, is that fine with you?" He asks, I see no reason as for why talking to someone would be a bad thing, so I nod.

With that, he hands me a key and says, "Go up the stair and the first door on the left is yours." With that, I follow his instructions and find the room. I insert the key into the lock and open the door. It's a rather small room, but I am not in a position to complain, this is the first time I've actually been able to rest in a long time.

I climb onto the bed, still wearing all of my armor, and the moment my head hits the pillow, I feel my vision begin to fade. After but a short moment, I am swallowed by the darkness and drift into sleep.

Today has been an interesting day.

* * *

 **Alright, I'm done, it's taken me a few weeks to get this out, but to me, this is like my inner souls fanboy emerged, I had a little too much fun righting it, and instead of writing 5k, like I wanted to, I ended up making it to about 7 and a half thousand words, which is pretty cool. Also, this probably has the best grammar and spelling out all my stories, I got a little too into it and up re-reading it. But yeah, the next chapter of Drunken bastard should be out in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that, and Time Traveling bastard should be out in about a month, so if you like that story, there you go. Welp, that's all I wanted to say, so uh… yeah, later.**


	2. Chapter 2

**What's up you beautiful bastards? Didya miss me? I'm sure you did, although, I'm pretty sure you missed this story a hell of a lot more than you missed me. Um, so there was a little thing that I forgot to mention last chapter, now you have to promise not to be mad, could you do me that solid? Alright, well, I may have forgot to mention that this story was supposed to be a little one-shot story until I was done with all of my other stories, but goddammit I can't bring myself to leave this story be when it's got nearly 100 follows for only one chapter, so I can tell that you guys want another chapter. So that's what I'm here to provide for you today, I'm pretty sure I can get this out before the beginning of July since I've been playing through Dark Souls 2 and I just made it to Drangleic, it was pretty cool.**

 **But enough about me talking about why I haven't put an update out for this story, let's just get to it, because I've been wanting to write a very specific scene for a very long time, so let's get started. Be back in a few. And, to the guy who called out my shout out to Papa Vaati, you fucking know that I'm a whore for some lore! Also, please, if you are a fan of Souls Songs, go check out this song call "Let There Be Fire" By Aviators and Miracles of Sound, the dream team of Souls Songs.**

* * *

It has been barely a day since I have found myself in this small town that sits in a forest that I know nothing about, the local population calls it the Crimson Forest, it is also inhabited by creatures that resemble the Abyss very heavily, the creatures of Grimm.

Honestly, those creatures worry me slightly, do they cause the same thing as the Abyss creatures, those… pus of men? I'll need to ask Robyn or Mr. Little, they both seem to know plenty of the surrounding areas and what they may contain.

As I lay in my bed, I let out a deep sigh, and here I thought I was free from my chains of duty, but I suppose now they're stronger than ever before, how unfortunate. I suppose there is nothing I can do about that right now though, I need to learn more about this world, and the kingdoms that inhabit it, because if they are anything like Lothric and Lordran, then they're bound to fall.

I haven't slept at all since I got here, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever actually slept before, I've always been too busy fighting off the Abyss that I've never had the chance to sleep. Of course, as an undead I suppose it's not necessary to sleep, but it would be nice to try it sometime.

I suppose it's time I got out of bed, I have things to do and information to gather. I force myself out of the comfortable death trap and look out of a nearby window. The sun is shining brightly and the birds are singing, when was the last time I saw a bird that didn't want to kill me?

Nevermind that previous thought, for now, I have to find Mr. Little, he did say that he wanted to speak to me yesterday. With that, I make my way out of the small room and down the stairs to where I find Mr. Little standing behind the bar.

I see him drying a glass with a grey rag, "Hello there boy, how did you sleep?" I hear him ask as he cleans out the glass, well, I didn't sleep, I just laid there thinking to myself.

I shrug my shoulders as I pull out a stool and take a seat at the bar, "I'm as well rested as I can be. So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" I ask, I would like to get this over with as quickly as I possibly can, I have information to gather.

I see him avert his eyes from the glass that he had been drying and he looks me straight in the eyes, "Listen well boy, because I'm only going to say this once, I want you to know that under no circumstances are you to cause trouble in our little town. It's a nice little place and, quite frankly, I don't want anyone to mess that up, are we clear on that?" I hear him ask, his voice was low and would have been threatening to lesser men, but I see no reason to fear him.

I give him a respectful nod, I see no reason to cause issues for the townspeople, however, if they were to be corrupted by the abyss, well, then I'm afraid I would have to torch the place, but I won't. "I see no reason to cause trouble, honestly, I've taken a liking to this place. It's so much more different than Farron." I say, the people are calm, I get to rest, and most importantly, there's no signs of the abyss.

I see a small smile spread across his face, "Good, I'm glad we got that all sorted out, and I'm sorry that I've got to threaten you like that, but I just don't trust the huntsmen, and you seem like a huntsman in-training, so I'm just trying to make sure that you're not like those lot." I hear him say with relief, huntsmen? But I don't carry a bow, nor do I carry a quiver.

I tilt my head slightly and quirk a brow, "Is Robyn not a huntsman? I could have sworn that he had a bow and a quiver full of arrows." I ask, if Robyn isn't a huntsman, than what is he exactly?

I see him narrow his brows in confusion, only for them to rise in recollection, "Ah, that's right, you're one of those boys from the Deep Wilds aren't you? Well do you want a drink, because the story of the huntsmen is a long one." I hear him ask.

I shrug my shoulders indifferently, "I'll just have a water, thank you." I say, and with that, he fills a glass and fills it to the brim with water from a nearby wooden keg, who keeps water in kegs? He places the glass in front of me, so I do what only comes naturally, I drink from it.

"Right, well long ago, when the first men and women were born, they were smart enough to stand on their own two feet, and resourceful enough to keep themselves safe. Thing was, they were born in an unforgiving world, a world where the grimm roamed as the dominant creatures. The grimm saw humanity as prey, waiting to be slaughtered and feasted upon. Humanities numbers began to dwindle as the grimm continued their hunts, but even the smallest spark of hope can make a change. Humanity had discovered something that could turn the tide, dust." I hear him say, his storytelling could use some work, but other than that, I'm intrigued.

I raise my hand in confusion, "Hang on a moment, you mean to tell me that the thing that fought back the grimm was a bunch of pollen and hair along with some dirt?" I ask, well, if humanity back then was so dirty that they had enough dust to build walls out of it, then I suppose being dirty is useful.

I see him quirk a brow in confusion, "What? No, don't be daft, boy. Anyways, I was just getting to that. With dust, man was able to harness nature's wrath and beat back the black tide of grimm, and with that, man lit their way through the darkness and found light, and with that light, they established their kingdoms. Eventually, those kingdoms need protectors, and who better to protect them than the huntsmen, those who harnessed nature and the power of their souls to beat back the tides of grimm?" With that, his story ends, so the huntsmen are the protectors of this world, but if that's the case then why does John find them untrustworthy?

With all this new information stumbling about in my mind, I struggle with what I should ask first, should I ask about what he meant when he brought up the harnessing of one's souls? I was unaware that the living could do such things, I thought that only the undead and unkindled could do such things?

I hear John chuckle at my inner struggles, "I can see that you're having some trouble processing all of this, well, go ahead and take your time boy, it's not like I'm going anywhere right now." I hear him say, this is not the time for you to be laughing at me Mr. Little.

I suppose I could just ask about the harnessing of souls, that is the only thing on my mind right now. I let out a sigh, "Mr. Little, what did you mean when you said that the Huntsmen harnessed the powers of their souls?" I ask curiously, well, what other way could I ask?

I hear him let out another sigh, oh I'm sorry, is it a problem that I'm curious? I can take my question elsewhere if you like. "When a Huntsman reaches a certain point in their training, the go under a certain event that will unlock their aura, it is usually unlocked by either a family member or mentor of some kind. As for what aura is, it's basically like a shield that protects the entire body." I hear him say, however, there is only one word that is echoing in my mind. Shield… what kind of a coward hides behind a full body shield?! First Hawkwood, now this?! BLASPHEMY!

I feel my body begin to tremble in anger, you are telling me that the warriors that protect the people cower behind shields instead of fight their enemies like true champions? I see that the world around me is beginning to turn red and I see little embers begin to float around me, only for something to hit my chest, it wasn't painful, but it was enough to garner my attention.

I see a look of concern rest on John's face as he retracts his open hand, "Are you well, boy? You seemed troubled by something, you want to talk about it?" I hear him ask, I feel my vision return to normal as the embers begin to die out.

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in, "Y-yes, I am fine, I was just angered by something of the past, it shan't happen again, that I swear." I say calmly, I had let my emotions cloud my thoughts and nearly lost control of myself, that could have ended poorly if not for John's interference.

I see him nod, "If you say so lad. Now that I've got you all caught up to speed, I need to talk to you about something else. It won't take too long, so just give me a few more minutes of your time." I hear him say, worry not, time is something that I have plenty of.

I let my arms rest on the bar and I lean forward, "Well, what else is there that you wanted to speak about?" I ask, I'm sure that it has nothing to do with Huntsmen since he's already shown his disdain for them.

I hear him chuckle quietly, "Well you see, Robyn and I basically manage the town's militia, it's a pretty decent size, but the men are inexperienced and poorly trained, so I was hoping if you could share some of your skill with some of the younger lads in the militia. You know, show them some swordsmanship and what not. What do you say?" I hear ask, hmm… this could be a way to secure some more information, and having the people of… what's the name of this town again?

"I'm sorry, what is the name of this town again?" I don't wish to be rude, but I don't think that I was ever informed about this town even having a name.

I hear John chuckle at my question, it's almost as if he's asked this question often, "Don't worry about not knowing the name, there are some days where the inhabitants forget. But the name of our town is Steelbell." I hear him say, Steelbell, the bell in the bell tower is made of steel? I thought they were made up of bronze and tin?

It matter little, but helping with the training of the militia will surely help later on, "Very well, I accept your request for assistance. What are most of the militia equipped with?" I ask?

I hear him let out a hum as he places a hand on his chin, "Well, it's usually whatever they can get their hands on, ever since Old Man Andre quit forging weapons, the militia hasn't been able to wield proper blades." I hear him say, Andre, the famous smith from Astora? I had heard that he could take a broken straight sword and turn it into a masterpiece. No, it can't be him.

I nod, "I'll see what I can do to get Andre to make those weapons for you, for now, see if you can get the militia assembled, and get Robyn, I'm sure he'd like to see this." I say as I get up from my stool and make my way towards the exit.

But just before I walk out the door, I hear John say something, "Wait a minute lad." I look over my shoulder and notice a smug smile is spread across his face, "You forgot the directions to Andre's Forge." I hear him say, and with that, I immediately facepalm, how could I be so foolish?

I see him step from behind the bar and walk towards me with a slip of paper in hand, "You might need these. And just so you know, if you don't know where you are, people will point you in the right direction, just say that I sent you." I hear John say as I take the slip into my hand, I still feel a little embarrassed about forgetting the directions.

I nod my head in gratitude, "I doubt I will lose myself in this settlement, it's not that big. I'm sure I could have found the smithy without your assistance anyways." I say, I am most certainly not trying to cover up my embarrassment.

I hear Mr. Little chuckle once more, "Right right, now get moving, I've got a militia to assemble and you've got a smith to speak to, now get to it." I hear him say, and who are you to order me around, you are not my superior. Never the less, I shall do that since I was going to do so originally.

I let out a hum as I make my way out of the inn and onto the streets, now then, where is the smithy supposed to be?

* * *

After a short time of wandering through the settlement, I finally make my way to the Smithy, however, it seems a bit run down, the wood that the building is made of is old and seems to be falling apart, the sign on the front is tilted slightly, and some of the windows are cracked.

"This doesn't seem like a smithy at all, it seems like someone forgot to tear down a building." I say, letting out my inner thoughts, I do hope that I did get lost.

I let out a sigh as I walk up to the door of the building, I see no reason as for why I am even here in this town, I have gotten my rest, I should have left earlier when I had the chance, now here I am, running errands for it's militia.

I knock on the door lightly, fearing that if I knocked too hard the building would collapse. After knocking, I hear a someone on the other side of making their way to the door, considering their footsteps aren't very quiet. "I told you that I'm not making anymore weapons!" I hear him yell from the other side of the door.

After a few moments, I simply knock on the door again, I do believe that he has me confused for someone else, and he will see that if he answers the door. After waiting for another minute in silence, I knock on the door once more.

I hear a pair of heavy footsteps come closer to the door, and the door swings open, revealing a man who is at least over 6 feet tall, has long white hair that rivaled that of a god, a beard that would make the gods jealous, and is currently not wearing a shirt. I am slightly uncomfortable, "I thought I said that I wouldn't be making any weapons-" I hear him say, only to cut himself off, I even notice his eyes widen. "You're one of those Watchers, aren't you?" I hear him ask.

I nod my head politely, I'm glad to see that someone hasn't forgotten our existence, "Yes, I am an Abyss Watcher, however, what I would like to know how you've come across that knowledge. Do you mind if I step inside?" I ask, if I'm going to be looking for information, I might as well be polite, after all, I did tell Mr. Little that I would not cause trouble.

I hear the old smith let out a hum, "Very well, come on in." I hear him say as he steps out of the way of the door. As I walk into the smithy, I notice that it's… not the most clean, "I hope you don't mind the mess, I wasn't expecting visitors." I hear him say, there are plenty of metallic can on the floor, and the smithy reeks of alcohol, this is the smithy of one of the greatest smiths of all time?

Honestly, I'm not all that impressed, if anything I'm a little disappointed, but Mr. Little did say that he hasn't been forging weapons for a while, I suppose he's been drinking rather than forging, "It's no issue to me, I've simply come here to ask some questions." I say, I've seen much worse than a couple of metallic cans.

I see him pull out two wooden chairs, as for where he was keeping them, I haven't the foggiest clue. He takes a seat in one of them and signals me to take a seat, to which I do just that. For a moment, we sit in silence, and the air around us is feels fairly thick, but the tension is quickly broken, "So… I thought all of the Watchers were killed during the last kindling?" I hear the old Smith ask, hold on, the last kindling? You mean to say that the fires are dead, never to breath again? How could this have happened?

But those questions will have to wait for now, I have questions to answer first, "Not all of us were killed, I happen to be the last of us, at least, I believe I am." I say calmly, I doubt there are any others, perhaps some are alive, but that would mean that they shirked their duties as Abyss Watchers and deserted, that's the only way that could have happened. Much like Hawkwood, they would prefer to cower behind shields instead of brave the currents of fate.

I notice Andre quirk his silver brow, "Oh, so that would mean that you are either the strongest Watcher, or you're the weakest link and decided to flee, which is it Watcher?" I hear him ask, how dare you try to sulley my name with the very notion that I shrugged off my duty and abandoned my comrades to their fates?!

I narrow my eyes dangerously at the old smith, I promised that I wouldn't cause trouble, but this old blacksmith is certainly making me regret making such a hasty decision. "I respect the stories that people have told about you, Andre of Astora, you are by far one of the greatest smiths in the world, but that respect can only take you so far, and for you to think that I tossed aside my honor instead of facing my death, well, let's just say that it displeases me greatly." I say as calmly as I can, but even with the training and discipline that I've through all of the warriors that my soul is composed of, I cannot help but feel unimaginable rage.

I see the old smith raise his right hand and lower it slowly, "Calm yourself Watcher, it was but a simple question, and judging by your reaction, I can guess the answer." I hear him respond, his voice deep yet calm. "Well, your reason of visiting was to ask questions right, so start talking, I've things to be doing." Oh, like what? Drowning in alcohol instead of forging weapons for the townspeople?

I quirk my brow as I cross my arms, "What things could be so important that you would let your forge die?" I look over to his forge and where the flames should be lays nothing but ash, it seems rather fitting considering the fact that the First Flame is dead.

I hear let a scoff, "A man like myself has other things to be doing instead of sitting at a forge hammering medal for the majority of his days." I hear the old smith say, but, is it not something you enjoy?

I narrow my eyes slightly, "And what would that be old smith, because it seems to me that the only thing you have been doing is drinking away the present to forget a long past, one full of death and fire." I say bluntly, he is supposed to be the greatest blacksmith of all time, a blacksmith that all apprentices would think of and imagine and be inspired by the very idea that one day, they could make blades that could impress _the_ Andre of Astora.

I see him go to retort, only for him to close his. For a moment, we sit in silence until he lets out a deep sigh, "Can you blame an old man for missing the past? As sad as it is to say, those times were probably some of the best that I've ever had. There were so many skilled warriors who were in need of a good smith, but now, here I am, stuck in a town whose only notable fighters are ex-huntsmen and an old veteran soldier." I hear him say, wait, veteran soldier? I was unaware that there was a war fought recently, yet, people don't seem too outraged, so this war must have been a few decades ago, and even then, it mustn't have been a long war.

I nod reluctantly, I don't see what that has to do with anything, but I will play along for now, "Right, our time was full of warriors that none could ever think of rivaling, whether it was the Lothric Knights and their Wyverns, the swordsmen of Carthus and their cowardly tactics, and the Knights of Mirrah, although the kingdom had fallen, it's Knights had followed their chivalric code until their death or until they had lost their minds and went hollow. Those were warriors who demanded and deserved respect, but now, I have yet to see a force to match them." I say, apologies, I seem to have gotten a little off track, remembering the armies of Lothric and Mirrah is always a pleasure, but the Swordsmen of Carthus, they were cowards who would prefer to stab you in the back and cower in the sand rather than fight you on open ground in glorious melee combat.

I see Andre nod quickly as a small smile makes its way into his face, "Aye, that's exactly right, all of those militaries were incredibly well known for being capable fighters, but what is a good soldier without an even better weapon?" I hear him ask, that's a rather simple question, a soldier is nothing without a proper and polished blade or bow.

I tilt my head slightly in confusion, "What are you getting at Andre?" I ask, what is the reason of bringing all of this up in the first place?

I hear him let out a sigh, "You see, a soldier is nothing without a good weapon, but as of recent times, weapons have become more advanced, weapons can now take on two forms." I hear him say, and I notice a deep sadness emanate from his being. But that's impossible, what kind of blade could take on two forms?

I let out a scoff, "That's preposterous, there's no way that a blade could take on two different forms, the very idea is also very foolish since one would need to master two forms of combat, it's much easier to just learn the one." I say, making a weapon have two forms seems entirely unnecessary, I'll take a simple greatsword over a dual-form blade any day.

I notice a small smile make its way back onto Andre's old face, "Exactly, it would take far too much time to learn both forms of combat, well, unless you were being trained from a young age, not to mention the resources that would be needed to make such weapons. I'm glad that you've still got your common sense about you boy." I hear him say, and I suppress a groan, why does everyone insist on calling me a boy?

I let out a sigh, "Why must everyone call me a boy or kid or whatever else there is to identify an adolescent?" I ask to no one in particular, only to hear Andre let out a chuckle, what is it that you find so humorous?

But soon, that chuckle turns into full blown laughter, what is it? After a moment, he finishes laughing, now could you please inform me on what is so humorous? "Tell me, when was the last time you looked in a mirror?" I hear him ask, I don't see what that has to do with anything, but I shall answer.

"It's been a few decades since I've looked into a mirror, why do you ask?" I ask, and for some reason, I notice a rather large smirk make its way onto the old smith's face, something is very wrong.

"Stay right here lad, I'll be back in a moment." And with that said, he stands up from his chair and makes his way through the forge and into the back room, I'm not sure if I should be worried.

A moment later, he comes out of the back room, holding what seems to be a small mirror, and the rather large smirk is still resting on his face, "Here boy, take a look at yourself." He says as he tosses said small mirror towards me.

I catch the mirror with no issue, and I turn it to face me, and what I see is not me. No, what I see is a young man who looks to be entering his adolescence, he has blonde hair and blue eyes. T-this can't be a mirror, my eyes were red, my hair a stark white color, the very thought that I am this young man is unbelievable. But the more I think about it the more I can't deny it, it would explain why people keep calling me a child, and why people are so impressed with my combat abilities. I feel my hands begin to shake as I hold the small mirror, "I look like an Astoran Squire!" I yell, now I'm sure that yelling won't help later, but it's certainly helping me stay sane.

I hear Andre let out another chuckle, this is not something to laugh at, this is incredibly serious situation you old codger! "Now do you see why people call you a boy, Watcher?" I hear him ask, well, I suppose that's one question solved.

I let out a sigh, even if I look nothing like I did before, I still have my skills, my blades, but most importantly, my duties to fulfil. "Andre, I suppose now I should get to the main reason I came to you." I say, and I seem him quirk his brow in response. I take a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth, "Andre, I'm going to be helping organize the militia and they're going to need the best blades they can get if they're going to be trained in the ways of Farron's Swordsmanship. Now I know that you are currently not in a good mood, believe me, I do, but the militia needs you, Steelbell needs you." I say, I hope that Andre agrees to help, after all, I did tell Mr. Little that I would help in that regard.

For a moment, we sit in silence, until I hear him let out a deep groan, "Fine, I'll smith the militia some weapons, but on one condition." I hear him say, if it is in my power, then I shall grant your request.

I nod my calmly, "Very well, if I can grant this request then I shall see what I can do, what is your condition?" I ask.

"You're going to make yourself useful and help me as my assistant." I hear him say, and is that amusement I hear in his voice? But more importantly, why would you want a master swordsman to help you smith weapons, there are other ways to make myself useful.

I raise my brow as I tilt my head slightly, "You, Andre of Astora, want me, an Abyss Watcher, to help you smith weapons?" I ask, and I notice a smirk make its way onto his face, he can't be serious.

I hear him let out a boisterous laugh, "What's the matter _boy_ , afraid that you'll let down the militia?" I hear him ask, I feel my brow twitch, I had given my word that I would help Mr. Little and Robyn that I would the militia, I won't simply give up because I will have to do something out of my element.

I narrow my eyes and furrow my brow, very well then, "When do we start?"

* * *

 **Oh hey guys, did you miss me? Fucking shit, how long has it been, since April I think? Something like that. Anyway, you have been wondering, "Hey, where the fuck have you been you piece of shit?" Well, I've been dealing with family issues along with issues that just so happen to be of the financial variety, but it's not so bad to where I should be M.I.A for about 2-3 months, so yeah, my bad. But yeah, I've been juggling a lot of shit recently, on the bright side, I'm going to be able to write shit while I'm out on road trips or whenever I feel like laying in bed and not sitting at a desk, so yeah, hooray for being productively lazy!**

 **But yeah, this story has been sitting in the Abyss for about 3 months, so I guess I'll just go ahead and drop this chapter now, I've read over, what, 5 times now? Lemme know what you think, did I make any mistakes? Tell me if I did, I would really appreciate it. Anyways, Ciao for now.**


	3. Abyss Watcher Omake: The Rant

**Hey guys, it's ya boy, back it with another chapter of this shit. Now you may be wondering, "Why the fuck is there another chapter for this? It hasn't even been a month!" Well that's because there was a guest in the reviews that made me laugh, they go by the alias "Some guy" And they had asked some very interesting questions. Their first question was, "Is Jaune still undead?" Yes, he is. The next question is, "Did he still ember up since Anri took his cinder?" That's a tricky question, but I'll answer the best way I can. I want to say that he can still use his Lord of Cinder form, but only to a certain degree since, as you said, Anri took his cinder.**

 **Now for the more simple ones, "Does Jaune still have his Legion outfit?" Yes, did you think he was running around in a loincloth? And lastly, "How did Andre realize that he was talking to an Abyss Watcher?" Well, if it wasn't the outfit, it was probably the dagger that is unique to the Abyss Watchers, but let's not forget the big ass greatsword that resembles that of Artorias' greatsword. Also, thank you for not getting pissy about me dealing with familial issues, I appreciate that. By the way, you should consider making an account on here, totally worth it.**

 **Anyways, that's all the time I have for questions, now, to get to the other reason as for why I'm writing this instead of Drunken Bastard LIKE I SHOULD BE! Sorry, I have to remind myself, otherwise, I never get shit done. This is an Omake and is probably not going to be canon. So I'm just gonna write it now, be back in a few.**

* * *

My time in Steelbell has not been long, and I've been helping the militia train for most of my time here if I'm not helping Andre forge their weapons, but the more time I spend here, there more I feel myself going hollow.

Now, some people could be wondering, why would I ever want to go hollow, don't I have a duty to fulfil? Yes, I do, but I'm not sure if I want to save this world from the darkness anymore.

Now why would I stop caring for this world? Well, whenever I help train the militia, I am usually asked a question, and I am very sick of hearing it. "Why aren't we unlocking our aura?" I cannot stand hearing that question.

When I was first trained, we were to never cower in the face of adversity, and the use of aura is that of using a shield, it's cowardly and it shows that you fear death.

Of course, I suppose as an undead, I don't really have to fear death since I will always just stand back up. The pain is always there, but death is one of the few things that can't bring me down.

But still, these militiamen are scared of adversity, and since they fear adversity, they will fear their enemy, and fearing the enemy will not help in battle. That and aura is for cowards who aren't deserving of praise, the true warriors are those that don't cower in fear behind their shields, but rather, they brave the currents of fate with their blades drawn and eyes narrowed, that is what a true warrior is.

But thinking about shields brings me much pain, it gives me conniptions. Thinking about shields reminds me of a certain whoreson known as Hawkwood, what a bitch. In my time here in Steelbell, I had learned that Robyn had quite the expansive vocabulary, and thus, I have picked up a few new words.

But it doesn't just remind me of Hawkwood, but of other cowards, I close my eyes as I remember each coward.

One such coward was known as 'Trusty Patches' what kind of fool would ever trust someone with such an untrustworthy name? It just seems rather foolish.

As I shut my eyes, I imagine standing before said coward, "Fuck you Patches, fuck you and your stupid greatshield, your mother was a whore!" I yell at the bald headed bastard.

"You think you're so great because you don't worry about dying don't you Watcher? Well at least I had a mother while you were fanboying over someone who died for wanted to fuck his wolf and save a princess he didn't know, how Noble of him!" I hear the bald bastard yell back, hmm, I hadn't expected him to yell back, but that doesn't mean that I will let that comment about our founder, Artorias the Abysswalker slide.

"Oh yes, well at least when I kill someone, I can look them in the eyes, meanwhile, you're setting up elaborate traps that don't work most of the time, very impressive." I say as I begin to applaud.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a rather large figure back away from me. I look over and see a man wearing nothing but armor made of stone, wielding the the tooth of a dragon, Havel…

I raise my arm and point to him, "And don't think that I didn't notice you Havel, you're an even bigger coward that he is!" I yell as I point back to Patches The Hyena, yes, he has many titles, and none of them are good.

I notice Havel tilt his head slightly as he points to himself with one hand, "You have armor that is made of _STONE_! What do you fear so much that you need armor made of stone _and_ a Greatshield that was fashioned from the same stone!?" I yell, and then proceed to point down, it was a way to show disrespect back in Lothric.

I hear the Archbishop known as Havel let out a sniffle, i-is he crying? W-well, it serves him right. I notice the Archbishop that was renowned for his poise curl up on the ground and turn his back to me.

I let out a scoff, no, he must be bluffing, he's supposed to be one of Gwyn's most trustworthy friends, he should be able to take a bit of verbal abuse.

I look over my shoulder and the first thing I notice is a giant foot, as in, the foot of a Giant. I look up to see if it's just another run of the mill giant, but it's not, it is the King of the Profaned Capital, Yhorm the Giant.

"Oh I've been meaning to have some words with you!" I yell as I point up towards him, to which his eyes widen in surprise.

"You may be a Lord of Cinder, but that does not excuse the fact that you yourself are also a coward. You let your people trample over you like they were to be feared, but you were their King, and I'm sure you didn't want to make Giant-kind suffer more than it already did. I could forgive the fact that you hid away in your throne room, what I can't forgive is that you wielded the _largest Greatshield in recorded history_!" I yell, the Greatshield that he used was nearly bigger than he was, and he's a _giant_!

I see his expression become rather saddened, I respect Yhorm for being a good protector of his people, but I cannot forgive the fact that he used a shield. I look over to my left and see a peculiar Onion Knight walk past me and pat the Giant's foot. I hear him say, "There there old friend, how about I go make us some Estus Soup, that always seems to make you feel better." I hear the Onion Knight say. Siegmeyer? No, it can't be him… wait, who is Siegmeyer?

With that, the giant swoops up the Onion Knight and places him on his shoulder, and with that, they walk off, well... that was odd.

I look back over my shoulder and see a man wearing a rather strange mask, it's almost as if it were in shock. They're holding a rather large two-handed blade and they seem to have a shield strapped to their back. I see them stretch their arms out as they step forward, " **Well, what is it?"** I hear them ask, and with those words said, I feel a chill go up my back.

I feel the urge to both walk away and point down profusely, but the urge to point down overpowers the urge to walk away, "I see that you are just as much of a coward as the rest of them, well say what you will and be off, I have some rather important things to be doing." I say, and I do, I've got to help Andre with the forge, help Robyn and John with the militia, as infuriating as it may be, and I've got beasts to hunt.

But then I notice something peculiar, he opens his palm and out comes a pyromancer's flame, I've never heard of a mere pyromancer wield a Zweihander before, wait… it can't be. I feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of my neck, it gets harder to breathe, "You… you're supposed to be dead!" I yell out, it's… it's The Giant!

" **THE LEGEND NEVER DIES."** He says, and with that, he raises his Zweihander.

* * *

I let out a scream as I force my eyes open and push myself into a seated position, my body drenched in sweat, my eyes wide. I look down and see that I'm in a bed, my armor still adorning my body. I let out a relieved chuckled and a smile makes its way onto my face, "Oh, thank the wolf, it was but a dream. Hehehe." I look out my window and see that it's still dark out.

I let out a sigh as I fall back onto my bed, "I don't know if I'm going to get anymore sleep tonight… I wonder if Andre's awake?" I ask myself, if by chance that he is awake, then perhaps he could use my help with the sword smithing.

I let out a chuckle as I get out of bed and make my way to my door, however, on instinct, I look over to my empty drawer, and… it's sitting there, that mask. Oh, how it sings to me, begging me to put it on. I shake my head rapidly, that's a thing for another time. With that, I make my way out of my room.

* * *

 **What's up you beautiful bastard, it's ya boy, inconsistent fuck face the third here, bringing you something a little different, today, I've done something I've never done before. That's right, it's an omake, I'm pretty sure I brought that up at the beginning of the chapter.**

 **Anywho, recently I've been writing with my homie darkthiefX, whom I have dubbed DX for short, and we went out and collaborated on this little thing called "Jaune's Bizarre Realities" Which is basically your normal reaction fic. Now before you go and scoff at the the notion that I went and wrote a reaction fic with a friend of mine, it's got plenty of JoJo references along with other things coming, I hope I have captured your attention. Unfortunately, we only had enough time to write a prologue considering that we both have things going on in life, but it's got yours truly in his natural form, 100% asshole.**

 **You don't have to go and read it, but it'd be pretty cool if some of you guys went and checked it out since it's got a microscopic following. Plus, who knows, maybe I'll throw in a couple of teasers for some upcoming fics if DX is cool with it.**

 **Anyways, that's all I've got to say for now, follow, review, all that fun shit. Anyway, Ciao for now.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, what's up, it's the one and only Syn here, the guy who can't seem to keep to a normal schedule. It feels like I've made that same joke a little too much, but what can I say, I'm not very creative when it comes down to making jokes. Anyway, I've been in a bit of a slump as of recent times, I can't seem to get anything right and I feel as though my creativity is just being sucked out of me. I don't even remember what drove me to write anymore, and that kind of sucks, if you don't remember why you do something, then why bother?**

 **Well, that's kind of bullshit, because if the Souls series has taught me one thing, is that if you start something, you better fucking finish it, otherwise you're a filthy casul who can't help but fail. So yeah, that's me pumping myself up for this next chapter. So uh… I think I'll just get started now.**

* * *

It's been nearly a week since I've made my way to Steelbell and since I've met Robyn and John. To say that they are generous people would be an understatement, they have both provided me with shelter and food, both of which I don't really need, but an Undead deserves a bit of normalcy every now and again.

However, their generosity did not come without its burden, for I have been tasked with both helping train the militia _and_ helping smith their blades. May the gods damn that old codger, Andre, for making me work on blades, I have better things to do.

As I lay on the bed that has been provided to me by my new… allies, let's say, I stare at the ceiling in thought; What exactly brought me to these lands, I heard the bell of awakening when I first awoke, yet the fires have been all snuffed out, so why am I here?

A Watchers' duty is to destroy all signs of the Abyss, yet I have yet to see anything that would indicate the Abyss being here. Yes, the Grimm exist, but they haven't the same effect that the Abyss does.

The Abyss itself is the manifestation of madness and feelings of that nature, those feelings being fear, ambition, anger, and loneliness. Those four feelings are what brought the Abyss through Manus' madness.

Manus was the father of the Abyss, and through his resuscitation, his souls went rampant and mad, and his rampage had continued on until Knight Artorias had slayed him with his mighty greatsword. However, Knight Artorias perished doing battle with Manus, and with that, he was marked down as a legend.

Yet even with all of those things happening, even with Manus slain, the Abyss has still spread farther than it ever should have, but I suppose that all had to do with how humanity is and how it was created.

Humanity itself was born in the dark, and molded by its twisted ways, and when the flame was first linked by Lord Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight and Cinder, Humanity had found some form of peace in death. The fact that humanity did not have to revert back to those soulless husks gave humanity some sort of peace.

Yet, even with the peace of death, the Abyss had managed to spread and manifest into all sorts of things, all sorts of… abominations. But humanity itself is the reason for the spreading of the Abyss, for no matter how pure a human may be, they are all, at their center, dark beings.

I let out a sigh as I stare up at my ceiling, no matter where I go, the Abyss always seems to appear, and now I am having doubts about whether it is I who finds the Abyss, or if it is the Abyss that finds me.

I shake my head, clearing my head from such thoughts, I haven't the time to think on such things, right now I should be helping Andre smith blades for the militia. I force myself out of bed and onto my feet, grab my sword that was leaning against the drawer next to my bed and strap it onto my back.

After placing my Greatsword into its sheath, I pick up my dagger, which was previously on top of the drawer, and place it onto my hip. After making sure that my weapons are both fastened properly onto my person, I make my way out of my room.

Now then, I do wonder what this world has in store for me today, because quite frankly, I've begun to get tired of all of the peace surrounding me. At first, I enjoyed the change of pace, but the quiet is making me anxious.

How long before this peace is over I have no clue, but I will make sure that Steelbell stands. I won't say that I've grown attached to this small town, I simply wish to repay their generosity and move on.

As I make my way down the stairs, I spot Mr. Little standing behind the bar, wiping the inside of a glass, as he always does in the mornings. "Good morning, Mr. Little, how goes your morning?" I ask as I make my way down the last of the steps.

I see him look up from the glass he was wiping and see him wearing a smile, "Ah, good morning boy, would you care for a drink?" I hear him ask as he pulls out a glass bottle that contains what I presume is alcohol.

Hmm, I don't believe that right now would be an appropriate time to be inebriated, considering that I've got to help Andre with the forge, and then help the militia train, and then help Robyn hunt, I feel like my schedule has been filling up.

I shake my head, "I'm afraid that I won't be joining you for that drink, Mr. Little, I have work that needs to be done." I state calmly, and to my surprise, I hear him laugh. I am confused, what is there to be found humorous?

"Hehehe, that sounds like you, boy. But you are aware that taking a break would do you some good, right?" I hear him ask, I don't need to take a break, I am undead, and we undead need no rest, food, or drink, only our will.

I nod as I make my way past the bar and towards to the door, "I will be sure to keep that in mind, Mr. Little, but for now, I have work that needs to be done. If you ever need me, you know where I shall be." I say, and with that, I push open the tavern door and make my way out onto the street.

I look up to the sky and see that the Sun is at its highest peak, I wonder if there are still those fanatics that worship the sun? I shake my head, now is not the time to be worried about such trivial matters, I have a duty to fulfill.

So, it appears to be mid-day, which means that Andre has more than likely started on the blades, so that means that I'll have to hear him complain about me being late, wonderful. Well, I suppose that now is a good time to make my way there.

* * *

After a short walk through Steelbell, I finally make my way to Andre's forge, the sounds of metal striking against metal coming from the forge indicates that Andre started the forge without me.

I let out a sigh as I walk up to the door to the forge, " _Knowing Andre, he's going to tell me I'm late, and that I should start to show up early."_ I think to myself as I place my hand on the door knob.

I twist the knob and push open the door, only to see Andre working on another batch of swords for the Militia, nothing too large mind you, just a basic Arming sword. The militia need something to start with, I can't just give them a sword as large as mine and expect them to wield it.

As he strikes the metal on the anvil in front of him, he looks up and I notice a nearly invisible smirk on his face, "You're late, Watcher, you should learn to arrive a little earlier. Perhaps then you would be able to prevent the Abyss, rather than confront it." I hear Andre say as he returns to hammering the metal beneath him.

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying my best to not lash out, although, I see him quirk a brow at my attitude, "Strike a nerve, did I? Well, don't take it too seriously, I wouldn't want you to make a bad decision." I hear him say.

I let out a deep breath as I set my blade against the frame of the door, "And what kind of bad decision would that be?" I then make my way over to the forge and begin to assist Andre with making the blades.

I hear him let out a chuckle as I begin to work on constructing my own blade, "Well, for one, you fighting me unarmed would be a rather large mistake." I hear him say, and why would I have a problem fighting an old man?

"Hmph, and why would I have an issue fighting you unarmed?" I ask, slightly annoyed if I may add.

"Because I know Astoran Boxing, and I've got a trusty hammer with me." I hear him say as he strikes the metal beneath him a little harder than before, trying to threaten me are you?

But suddenly, an idea comes to mind, "Oh, if you're such a good boxer, why don't you go and teach the Militia some things? They could use the strength training." I say, hoping to at least bother the old Smith.

I hear him let out a huff, "Oh, but I've gotten far too old for the boxing, can't you just let an old man rest?" I hear Andre say, playing the 'old man' card, eh?

I simply shrug my shoulders, "I suppose that's understandable, after all, Astoran Boxing must be beyond your talents at your age. Especially with all of the drinking that you were doing." I say with a dry tone, and I notice one of his eyes twitch slightly.

I see him set his hammer down next to the anvil in front of him, "Don't go pushing your luck, _boy_. Think about how damaging it would be to your pride if an old man like myself beat you into the ground and made you nothing more than a blood stain, it'd be enough to make any man hollow, don't you think?" I hear him say, it seems as though _I've_ struck a nerve.

I let out a chuckle in response to his threat, "So, would I be incorrect in saying that I've won our verbal duel?" I ask, jokingly of course, Andre is one of the few companions I have in this world, and the only one that I have that connects to the last.

I hear him let out a deep sigh as he picks up his smithing hammer, "You should really learn to mind your tongue, Watcher. There's going to be someone out there that's going to be stronger and faster than you one day, and the last thing you'll want to do is anger them." I hear Andre say as he places both of his hands on his smithing hammer.

I simply tilt my head, I don't really believe that there are soldiers out there that could match my skill, but if they exist, then I would be glad to welcome them to their death, if they so wish for it. "Andre, if there are people out there that are stronger than I am, then I'll just come back. We _are_ Undead, are we not?" I ask rhetorically, even if I weren't Undead, I would still do battle with them with no fear of death. I am an Abyss Watcher, the only reason I exist is to do battle with the Abyss, or to eventually fall to it in battle.

I hear the old Smith let out a sigh as he looks down at his hammer, a look of sorrow etched onto his face, "Watcher, I don't think you understand just how many times I've heard someone say that. In all my years of life, I've heard plenty of Warriors say the same thing. Just because we're Undead does not mean we cannot meet a terrible fate." I hear him say.

I let out a dejected sigh, aye, he's right. Even if we are Undead does not mean that death is beyond us. While it may be beyond us in a physical form, it is still possible for us to lose our sanity, to become hollow. "Andre, I-" I go to apologize, only to hear a banging sound coming from the front door.

I see the look of sadness disappear from his face, "Aye, come in!" I hear him yell as he returns to hammering at the metal beneath him. It's almost as if nothing happened.

With that, I see the door open, and I see a man in a green hood step through the door, a short sword strapped to his hip along with a bow and quiver strapped to his back, ah Robyn, good to see you. As he walks in, I notice him give a small wave, "Andre, Jaune, how goes the smithing?" I hear him ask.

I hear Andre let out a grunt as he thumbs to the door behind us, "It's going about as well as you'd expect. And before you ask, all of your blades are being kept in the back, away from prying eyes. Last thing I need is some fool to try and break into my smithy to nab himself one." I hear Andre say, it seems as though he's had a similar experience, how peculiar.

I hear Robyn let out an awkward chuckle as he scratches the back of his head, "What can I say? The lads are eager to actually get their hands on some proper blades and not the tools we use to farm the crops." I hear Robyn say, it's understandable as for why the Militia would want to wield a proper blade, they need to defend themselves somehow.

I hear Andre let out a hmph as he sets his hammer down next the anvil in front of him, "Well, keep your men under control, because if any of them come into my smithy with the intention to steal a blade that _I_ forged, then they'll be leaving with more than just bruises." I hear him say, I doubt they'd be leaving the smithy at all, if they planned on stealing one of Andre's master craft blades.

I hear Robyn clear his throat as he places his hands behind his back, "Right, I'll keep the trainees under control, but can you get me a quick count on how many blades you've smithed?" Robyn asked, to which Andre simply sighed.

I see Andre stand up from his seat and roll his hammering shoulder, "Very well, I'll go check in the back. Boy, make sure that the flames don't go out." I hear him say as he begins to walk towards the back room, and as he walks away, I feel one of my brows twitch. I am no Boy.

Once Andre passes through the back door and into the storage room, I hear Robyn let out a sigh, "That old codger never changes, does he?" I hear him ask, no, no he does not.

I simply shake my head as I step away from the forge, it is probably a foolish thing to leave the blade there unattended, but we can always make more. "So Robyn, what brings you to the forge? I doubt that you would come here just to check on the blades." I say with my arms crossed.

I see one brows raise slightly, "Well, why else, I wanted to check in on you. I guess I wanted to see if you were settling in alright." I hear him say calmly, what are you supposed to be, my father?

I simply let out a chuckle, "Come now Robyn, there is always something that someone needs from me, and you yourself are no different to the others in this small town." I say calmly, and I see his face tense up quite a bit, "What ails you, Robyn?" I ask, Robyn hasn't come to me for a favor in quite some time, it is almost worrying.

I hear him let out a sigh as he leans against the door behind him, "It's my wife, Marian. She has been… ill as of late, it worries me. She tells me that she has terrible nausea and how she's been vomiting, and I just really needed to speak to someone about this." I hear Robyn say, now I'm no miracle worker, nor am I a doctor, but something doesn't sound right.

I tilt my head to the side in confusion, "Is there anything more that you can tell me about your wife's illness? Other things that have been happening as of late." I asked, there must be something more to this illness than just nausea. Not that I would know much of illnesses, being undead nullifies illnesses, all but the Undead Curse.

I see his eyes squint as he places a hand on his chin, "Well, recently she's been… I guess angrier is a decent way of saying it. And it's strange for Marian to be angry, she's usually very well composed. And then she tells me that she has a constant headache. Now I'm not sure if the headaches are on my part, but still, it worries me." I hear Robyn say, concern lacing his voice. But then he leans closer to me, close enough to whisper, "But between you and me, she's also gained a few pounds, but you didn't hear that from me." He whispers into my ear.

I let out a sigh as I bring my hand to my face, Robyn, I know you are no fool, but you are certainly playing the part, "Robyn, when was the last time that you had… intimate interactions with your wife?" I ask.

I see him squint his eyes, either in confusion or offense, but it matters little either way, "Maybe a week or so ago, why?" I hear him ask, to which I sigh again, Robyn please, don't make me say it out loud.

I let out another sigh as I let my shoulders slump, "Your wife… she's more than likely pregnant…" I say in an even tone of voice. For a moment, we maintain eye contact, but shortly after, I hear him let out a snicker, which then turns into a chuckle, and then into full blown laughter.

As he laughs, I see him hunch over as he grabs his stomach, to which I simply glare at him. As he finishes his laughing fit, I see him wipe a tear away from his eye, "Oh, that has to be one of the best jokes you've ever told, Jaune." I hear him say, but as he looks me back in the eyes, I simply quirk a brow at him, "By the gods, you're serious." I hear him say as his eyes widen marginally.

I watch Robyn lean against the wall behind and slow slide down the wall as he places his hands on both sides of his head, mumbling to himself. I crouch down in front of him and reach out to touch his shoulder, "Robyn, are you well..?" I ask uneasily.

As I reach for his shoulder, I see his arms shoot out and he grabs me by the shoulders and he just starts shaking me, "What am I going to do!? I'm not ready to be a father!" I hear him yell as he continues to shake me.

I grab a hold of his arms and force him to let go of my shoulders, "Compose yourself, Robyn!" I yell, trying to regain his attention. Alas, his eyes seem rather distant. As I look down at Robyn, I stifle a sigh as I rub my eyes with my hand. Suddenly, a wonderful idea comes to mind.

I raise my hand to the sky, hoping to return Robyn back to the land of the living by using just a small bit of force, but just as I was going to strike Robyn across the face, I hear the door behind us open and hear the sounds of some rather heavy footsteps. "Oi, and just what is it that you're planning to do to the poor man, Watcher?" I hear Andre ask, well, I am simply trying to help him.

I shrug my shoulders as I turn back to Robyn, "I plan on helping this man with his troubles, dear Andre." I say as I grab a hold of Robyn's arm and pick him up off the ground. "Andre, I'm going to be gone for maybe an hour or two, don't burn down the smithy while I'm gone."

With that, I grab my sword that was leaning against the door frame and place it in its sheath, and open the door, "Come along Robyn, a bit of hunting will help clear your mind." I say to Robyn as I drag him out of the smithy. I do hope that he will recover from all of… this.

* * *

After making our way out of Steelbell and into the forest, I notice that Robyn has stopped his rambling and has just gone quiet. As we walk through the forest, I look around and see small rays of sunlight shining through the branches above, it all seems so peaceful, yet, it also feels wrong.

I shake my head, it's probably nothing, perhaps I've spent too much time fighting to enjoy a bit of peace? Oh well, it matters little, right now I need to see if Robyn's mental state is well. I look over to Robyn as we trek through the forest, "So… you're going to be a father." I say, oh you fool, that is not a good way to comfort a distressed ally.

I hear Robyn let out a hollow chuckle as walk through the forest of red, "Honestly, I'm absolutely terrified." I hear Robyn say, "I-I'm not ready to be a father, I'm an ex-huntsman who's trying to keep his wife and town safe, and having a kid is just… it's so much." I hear Robyn say, you were an ex-huntsman?

I simply let out a hum, "Well, I've never had to deal with children from where I am from." I say quietly, the sounds of leave crunching beneath our boots. "Where I am from, we were all at an age where we could take care of each other, as well as ourselves, we were all brothers."

I hear Robyn let out another chuckle, "Must have been nice, having so many people to take care of you." I hear him say, you would think that, but it just meant that there were more people for me to put down if they were ever... turned by the abyss. It only made things more difficult.

As we walk through the forest, I can't help but furrow my brows, when I first came to this land, I couldn't help feel a small amount of joy, but now? All of the tranquility, the quiet, it's making me very… not nervous, but I can't help but feel that something is wrong. I raise my right arm to reach for my blade, if only because I would feel better, but I feel Robyn place his hand on my shoulder, "What's the matter kid? You seem kind of jumpy." I hear him say, his voice laced with a bit of concern.

I let my arm fall to my side as I shrug off his arm, "It's nothing, I just… something feels wrong, like there is something out of place." I say, I just can't quite put my finger on it, and that's what has me so 'jumpy', as Robyn so rightly put it.

As we continue to walk through the crimson forest, I hear Robyn let out a 'huh' in confusion, "What do you mean? I can't see any signs that something has changed. Are you sure you're alright?" I hear him ask, what are you supposed to be, a father figure?

"I told you, I'm fine, and the changes that I have noticed are not those that you may see with your eyes." I say with a huff, I know how to take care of myself just fine, thank you Robyn.

But before we could march any further through the forest to find us some prey, Robyn jumps in front of me, a look of pure confusion etched upon his face, "Just what the hell are you talking about Jaune? This forest is the same as the last time I left it." I hear him say.

I simply shake my head from side to side, "Robyn, let me ask you something, what do you hear?" I ask, and for a moment, we stand in the forest quietly, the wind being the only thing that we may hear.

I see his brows furrow, either in confusion or in worry, "It's… quiet, almost silent really. You're right, something's not adding up, this forest is usually crawling with wildlife and the occasional bird call or two." I hear him say, well I'm glad that you too have noticed.

I nod to him as I raise my right arm to reach for my sword, "Something has scared the wildlife away, and if there are quite a number of that can scare them. Many of those things are not in our best interest for keeping around." I say stoically. As draw my greatsword from its sheath and pull my crooked dagger off of my belt.

I watch Robyn grab a hold of his bow and nock an arrow into place, "Whatever it is that we find, we should make sure that we can fight it, because whatever spooked off the wildlife must have been really mean." I hear Robyn say, well I find it unlikely that this threat would have been kind if the wildlife ran off.

I let out a hum as I approach a nearby tree and stab my dagger into it. With my dagger now inside the tree, I try to move the dagger from its place, to which it take me a moment to actually pull it out of tree, it seems sturdy enough. Without even needing to see Robyn, I can tell that he is somewhat confused, "What are you doing, Jaune?" I hear him ask.

I look over my shoulder, and with an unnoticeable smile, I say, "Getting some higher ground." And with that, I begin to climb up the side of the tree with my dagger, hoping that this doesn't backfire. Truth be told, I've only ever used my dagger like this once before, and it hadn't ended well.

After scaling the side of the tree and making my way up to a branch sturdy enough to sustain my weight, I see a small clearing just little ways North of our current position, but as I look a little closer, I notice a small pack of beasts at the edge of the clearing, ah, it doesn't seem too dangerous. I look down the side of the tree and see Robyn simply leaning against the tree, "Robyn, come up here, there's much to see!" I yell down at him, to which I see his shoulders slump.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." I hear him say from the base of the tree as he draws his short sword, to which he then uses to scale the side of the tree, the same way that I did. As he makes his way up to the branch that I am balancing on, I reach down and pull him up the rest of the way.

Now that we are both balancing on the branch, I point to clearing just up ahead, "Look, it seems that we were right to expect opposition, but it's not as many as we thought there were." I say as we look to the clearing, hearing Robyn hum in response.

It seems like our enemy is composed of no more than perhaps thirty of those wolf-like abominations that the locals call 'beowolves'. When I last faced them, they were little more than a nuisance, I'm certain that with our combined strength, we could most definitely handle them. But just as I go to leap off of the branch, I feel Robyn grab at my shoulder. "Hang on a sec, something still doesn't feel right about this. It would take more than a small pack of beowolves to spook the forest." I hear Robyn say, that is what you consider a small pack?

I furrow my brows in confusion as I stare at the pack ahead of us, "Well, if this isn't the entire pack, then where are the rest?" I ask, and as if it were by my words, we watch as if a hundred red lights went off in the tree line behind the clearing, and with it, a sea of black fur and fang stomped out from the tree line.

Without a second thought, I quickly blurt out, "We must hurry back to Steelbell, we have to inform the town!"

* * *

 **Oh boy, it's been a hot minute since I dropped a chapter for any of my stories, but what can I say? I've been a tad bit busy, but I'm sure everyone's head that excuse, and I'm certain that everyone's tired of hearing it, so I'll stop spewing it. But besides all that, everything has been good on my end, I passed my last semester, which was a massive win in my books. But yeah, enough about me, how have you guys been?**

 **Now before you go and dismiss my question as pure pleasantry, I have a nice little announcement to make. I made a discord server! Yeah, I know, it's not an original concept, but what can I say, I want a place where me and my readers, along with a few friends, can hang out and kick it. Plus, I really need people to chew me out when I don't do any writing, so this is a prime opportunity to get one of your (hopefully) favorite writers to get their ass in gear. So yeah, you want in to the server, hit me up in PM's and I'll send you an invite to the server. I call it "Papa Syndrome's realm of Stupidity". So yeah, hit me up if you want more frequent updates on the progress of a chapter. Anyway, that's all I've got to say, it's been 6 months since I've updated this, but I've got some ideas brewing, and with a proper schedule set up for what I'm putting up next, (it's in my profile) this should let you guys know what to expect next. Anyway, I'm done now, ciao.**


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